Practicing evidence-based veterinary medicine is all well and good when the evidence is clear-cut, but the data on use of hyaluronic acid in horses are often ambiguous.
Emma Adam, DVM, discusses the research, methods and challenges of managing cartilage health in equine joints. She wrestles with the data and implications of using corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid and triamcinolone acetate alone or in combinations. Adams also comments on platelet-rich plasma, the AAEP lameness scale, long-term effects of athletic horse activities and the general limitations and challenges of equine studies.
Source: DVM 360, July 27, 2019. Link. It’s important for equine practitioners to start offsetting the negative effects of exercise—potentially prophylactically and potentially with IV HA—to reduce the deleterious effects on the cartilage and to control harmful inflammation.
INSIGHTS: Kudos to author Sarah Mouton Dowdy for capturing these comments. At best, horse owners and their veterinarians are left with a conundrum when joints age and need treatment.